Yarn carrier



Aug. 9, 1938. I E. A. FEUSTI'EL' YARN CARRIER Filed Dec. 24, 1957 INVENTOR 1 'ifl l A AT ORNEY.

Patented Aug. 9, 1938 I 2 12 249 UNITED STATES PATENT} OFFICE.

YARN cannmn Ernest A. Feustel, Hasbrouck Heights, N. 3. Application December 24, 1937, Serial No. 181,655

"1 Claim. ,(Cl. 66-126) Th present invention relates to certain new machines caused by actual break of the thread and useful improvements in yarn carriers, and (and also by t e Production of c it relates more particularly to yarn carrier tubes imperfect hosiery) and the roughening of the for full-fashioned hosiery knitting machines andv thread which gives roughening, Skiving 0f the 5 the like, 'wherein relatively fine and delicate thread which gives striations or irregularities in threads or filaments must be paid out at relaappe rance in the fini hed hose. This conditively high linear speeds, and wherein the yarn tion' is made particularly critical by virtue of the carriers must work in small spaces with relatively t t at the e d must Cross the p of the small clearances. conventional yarn carrier tube at almost a right In full-fashioned hosiery knitting machines, it angle, 0 9 wit pect to t e longitudinal 10 has been the practice to provide the yarn caraxis of the tube. Moreover, if the slots or cuts riers or yarn carrier fingers, or yarn guiding across the end of the carrier tube become deeper fingers with a small, fine-bore tube at the delivery as time goes the f iv har e point of end through which the thread finally passes, and the thread is raised upwardly so that the thread from which the thread is ultimately discharged in fact may be too high to be engaged by the 15 Pa d out across the needle bank in front of sinkers particularly in the zones'near theselvages the sinkers. These yarn carrier "tubes have where the lead" of the carrier'with respect to generally been made of iron or steel tubes of the sinkers, or the lag of the sinkers with suitably small external and internal diameters respect to the carrier are gradually diminished,

which have been cut ofl to suitable lengths and so that the one or more of the end sinkers may 20 inserted in. -the end of the yarn carrier or yarn not engage the thread but may pass beneath it carrier finger. without engagement. While this may be cor- Some of theseyam carrier tubes of the present rected by lowering the guidance correspondingly practice have also been tempered to increase as the slots wear deeper, such lowering is not.

their hardness, or even case hardened in some desirable both from the standpoint of labor in- 25' instances to increase their hardness;all in an volved as well as from the standpoint of disturbefiort to increase their resistance to wear at the ing the small clearances in which the yarn point where the thread crosses the lip of the" carrier must work. tube, thereby to increase the life of the tube, and In conventional yarn carrier tubes now in gen- .also to minimize injury or damage to the fine eral use, and particularly when using high twisted 30 1 threads. m yarns, the cutting or the groove or slotting of The yarn carrier tubes heretofore used, and the yarn carrier tubes is sumcient to necessitate particularly used in the full-fashioned hosiery replacement of yarn carrier tubes sometimes art, are nevertheless deficient to a substantial from four to six times a year, and this entails extent, notwithstanding all the effort up to this, a very considerable labor expense in addition to 5' time as hereinabove pointed out. Thus, the best the cost of the new tubes as well as the loss of "yarn carrier tubes now in us in the knit in production while the machines are being refitted industry are both subject to substantial wear, with new tubes, 1 and are also injurious, to greater or lesser extent, 'So too, the yarn carrier tubes now in general 40 to the fine threads which they are required to use have also been found to be deficient insofar 40.

D y Out at comparatively high p edsas they do not present a smooth and gradual Conventional yarn carrier tubes in time form contact surface to the delicate thread passing. slight depressions or cuts or slots across the across the annular discharge lip thereof, at apdischarge edge or discharge lip thereof, at two proximately 90 to the longitudinal axis of the I more or less diametrically opposite points where tube, even when the tube is in all comparatively 45 the thread crosses the annular lip or terminal new condition, but onthe contrary present relaof the tube alternately as the carrier moves to tively sharp edges with pronounced corners and and fro across the needle bank alternately in present edges of a comparatively abrasive or opposite directions. The threads, particularly skiving character which tend to abraid or skive the more delicate threads or the threads of com or minutely to shave the fine filaments, as they 50 paratively finer gauge or the threads with fewer pass the lip of the tube at high-speed, thereby filaments, or formed of finer filaments, are not tending, more or less to weaken the thread deinfrequently damaged; and in fact broken by pending upon the extent of such skiving or faulty or marred carrier tubes, resulting in loss shaving, and to render the thread somewhat of production both by actual stoppage of the irregular in thickness or weight in the finished production, thereby tending to create irregularlties in appearance of the texture of the hose or to produce what may be called rings in the finished hose where thread has been made weaker or thinner in contrast to the other threads. This irregularity in appearance is sometimes made more conspicuous in the production of the socalled ringless hosiery or in the production of hosiery with three or more carriers or three or more threads alternated through the body of the hose because of a faulty carrier tube. One of the yarn carriers will cause one of the several threads to be thinned slightly or weakened slightly with the result that the slight difference in the weight of the thread will recur at every third or fourth course depending on the number or carriers and threads used. This condition may be accentuated as the tube wears.

The present invention contemplates a yarn carrier tube which will eliminate the deficiencies present in the yarn carrier tubes now in general use, and which will present a gradual and curved bearing surface to the thread as the thread passes across the terminal lip of the tube and the lip of which will be devoid of all abrasive and skiving or shaving tendencies both when the tube is new, as well as after substantial use, and one which will not be subject to grooving across the lip of the tube.

With the above and other objects in view, which may appear more fully from the following detailed description and accompanying drawing, the present invention contemplates a composite metallic yarn carrier tube having any suitable metaJlic tubular body formed of iron, steel or any other suitable metal, and having its discharge terminal portion formed of a ring-like member or an annulus of platinum, iridium, ruthenium or osmium, or the alloys of iridium, ruthenium or osmium with platinum or other suitable alloying metals, united with the tubular body portion preferably by the intervention of a third metal which may be fused to both the body and the terminal annulus, so as to unite the two generally in continuation of each other.

The present invention further contemplates a terminal discharge lip or a yarn carrier tube which will present a curved bearing surface to the thread as it passes across the lip thereof without any square or sharp edges, or without any abrupt change in the direction of the bearing surface such as would necessitate the fine threads making a sharp bend as they emerge from the tube.

The present invention further contemplates and consists of other novel features, as well as other.

novel details of construction, all of which will appear more fully from the following detailed description and accompanying drawing.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the accompanying drawing forms thereof which are at present preferred, since the same have been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

In the accompanying drawing in which like reference characters indicate like parts,

Figure 1 represents a fragmentary perspective view of a yarn carrier in relation to the needle bank and sinkers on full-fashioned hosiery knitting machines having in its lower end a yarn carrier tube embodying the present invention.

Figure 2. represents a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1 on a much enlarged scale.

Figure 3 represents a section on line 33 of Figure 2, showing one embodiment of the present invention in yarn carrying tubes.

Figure 4 represents a section on line 44 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 represents a section similar to that shown in Figure 4 but showing a slightly modified embodiment of the present invention.

According to the present invention, the yarn carrier tube either in the form indicated in Figures 3 and 4 or in the form indicated in Figure 5 (which figures are many times the actual size) is provided with a tubular body 6, adapted to be inserted into and frictionally retained in the bore 1 of the yarn carrier finger 8, which tubular body 6 may be formed of cold rolled steel, or any other suitable grade of machine steel or tool steel (or any other suitable ferrous or non-ferrous metal). The tubular body 6 has a generally cylindrical outer surface 9, and has a generally cylindrical bore IU of suitably fine dimensions according to the requirements of the full-fashioned knitting machines now in use. The outer surface of the lower or terminal portion ll may be slightly tapered, if desired, as indicated in the drawing.

To the terminal of the tubular body 6 a generally annular or ring-like lip member [2 of platinum, iridium, ruthenium or osmium, or a platinum alloy of iridium, ruthenium or osmium, or any other suitable alloy of platinum, iridium, ruthenium or osmium, is permanently secured either by direct fusion with the body 6, or by fusion with an intervening metal l3 which is fused both to the body 6 as well as to the annular lip member 12; said intervening metal l3 being any suitable flux metal or fusion metal, as for instance, gold or a gold alloy, or other suitable fiuxing or fusing metal or alloy. If desired, the end of the tubular body 6 may be slightlyrecessed at a bevel or incline, as indicated at I4 in the drawing, to form a recess for the reception of the fusing metal l3. If desired, the lip member 12 may be similarly recessed although this is not shown in the drawing, and it is preferable to recess only the body member 6.

The lip member 12 is provided at its outer periphery with a lip of generally curved cross-section, as indicated at l5, which presents a curved bearing surface or contact surface to the thread [6, as it leaves the yarn carrier tube.

In Figure 5, there is illustrated a somewhat modified form of the present invention, wherein the terminal side of the annulus I2 is inclined as at IT, so that the effective end of the carrier tube will be approximately horizontal when the tube is at the usual inclination at the yarn carrier finger 8 of the knitting machine so as to permit the setting of the yarn carrier tube to a closer clearance in relation to the rest of the knitting machine parts with which it must cooperate.

While it has not been fully or accurately determined or ascertained just why the novel yarn carrier tube of the present invention produces the remarkable results which it has been found to produce, it is believed that this result may be not merely a matter of hardness of the lip, but may be a matter of the combination of the hardness and texture of the lip, and perhaps may also be a matter dependent upon the frictional relationship between the material of the Zip and the and osmium, or any alloy of two or more ofthese heavy noble metals, reacts favorably with silk, to minimize both the abrasive action of sill; upon the metal and also to minimize the abrasive or wearing action of the metal upon the silk. It was also believed that the crystalline character of steel,o1' which conventional yarn carrier tubes have heretofore been made, is generally unfavorable to the desired result, partly perhaps because steel includes carbon partly in a free state andpartly in the form ofcarbides, and partly perhaps because the crystalline or granular structure of steel is not sufiiciently fine, or is too pronounced. Thus, it is believed that by the use of reasonably hard metals free of carbon, or relatively hard alloys free of carbon, as for instance, the metals and alloys above indicated, a more permanent yarn carrier lip may be produced which will generally eliminatewear both upon the lip, as well as upon the yarn. While the above, theoretical explanations of the remarkable results produced by the present invention may not be capable of proof, or may not be disproved or found deficient wholly or inpart, the fact remains that by the use of a non-ferrous ora carbon-free hard metallic alloy the lip is formed.

or lip on a yarn carrier tube, wear, both upon the lip, as well as upon the yarn, can be substantially eliminated with a resultant saving both in equipment, replacement, adjustment, and main tenance, as well as with the resultant saving of damage to the product, or the resultant increase in perfection of the product. These results are enhanced further by the provision of the rounded or "corner-free" lip, as indicated by the numeral l5. i

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is there-' fore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being" had to the appended claim rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is hereby claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

4 In a full-fashioned hosiery knitting machine,

an integral composite yarn carrier tube having an annular platinum-iridium lip, having 'a curved yarn-contact surface, said annular lip being fused to the body of the yarn-carrier tube through a third metal different from that of which the body from that of which is formed and also different ERNEST A. FEUS'I'EL. 

